GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Consumer confidence among Floridians rose five points to 67 in December, reflecting optimism about new presidential leadership in January despite unprecedented pessimism about personal finances, a new University of Florida study finds.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For those who love “green” compact fluorescent bulbs but hate their cold light, here’s some good news: Researchers are closer to flipping the switch on cheaper, richer LED-type room lighting.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It’s the time of year when festive lights outline rooftops and driveways, but University of Florida researchers have a different reason to celebrate the same technology that’s becoming popular Yule-time décor — better-growing crops.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers may have discovered why some brain cells necessary for healthy memory can survive old age or disease, while similar cells hardly a hairsbreadth away die.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Competition for resources can cause animal species in an ecological community to evolve away from each other, becoming less similar — but University of Florida research shows that sometimes mutual benefit causes just the opposite.

Radar can catch you for speeding and one day it might save your baby if he or she stops breathing. University of Florida engineers have developed a new system that uses radar technology to assess a person’s vital signs from a few feet away.

Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, was quoted in a Nov. 25 Associated Press story about the November consumer confidence report in Florida. The story was the result of a News Bureau news release.

The entry deadline for the university-wide Golden Gator communication awards program has been extended from Dec. 1 to Dec. 8. For more program details, visit http://ufcn.urel.ufl.edu/goldengators/index.shtml.

The Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies has appointed Tim Becker as director. Becker holds a degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from Florida Gulf Coast University, where he served as an adjunct professor in real estate. His experience also includes working as director of commercial development for the Bonita Bay Group. Becker has attained the designation of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and he is a past-president of the Southwest Florida chapter of the CCIM Institute.

University of Florida head soccer coach Becky Burleigh recently was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year. This is the third such honor, following previously earning the designation in 1996 and 2000. In 2008, UF won its third consecutive — and ninth overall — SEC title. Burleigh has been coach since the program began 14 years ago.

John Harvey has been named executive associate dean of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.
Harvey was a founding member of the UF veterinary college’s faculty in 1974 and has served as chairman of the college’s department of physiological sciences since 1995.

Agricultural economist Mark Brown was quoted in a Dec. 22 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-brazil-pests22-2008dec22,0,2096163.story story about how greening is affecting the citrus industry in Brazil.

President Bernie Machen’s op-ed column about how higher tuition could ensure a better education was published Dec. 16 in The Miami Herald. The column was edited by the News Bureau’s Op-Ed Service. It also was published in The Gainesville Sun and The Tallahassee Democrat.

An op-ed column by botany professor Francis E. “Jack” Putz about the disease threatening the Sabal palmetto was published Nov. 20 in The Miami Herald and The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. The column was edited and placed by the UF News Bureau’s Op-Ed Service.

A week of Martin Luther King Jr. events, sponsored by the Black Graduate Student Organization, are scheduled for Jan. 14 to 20. Events will include a special speaker, campus-wide town-hall forum, candlelight celebration, Gatorship leadership/diversity retreat, alternative break weekend trips focused on low-income housing and environmental preservation, and a panel, “How the election of Barack Obama will impact the fight for civil rights and social justice.”

Management professor Timothy Judge was quoted in a story in the Dec. 14 New York Times Magazine about his research into how traditional attitudes by men and women might affect their pay. The story was the result of a News Bureau news release.

Iona R. Malanchuk, associate university librarian and head of the Education Library at the University of Florida, recently was named an awardee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times “I Love My Librarian Award.” Malanchuk is one of 10 librarians nationally recognized.

This year, the University of Florida will include Jan. 2, 2009 as part of the regular December and New Year holidays. This addition will allow reduced energy consumption for a total of 11 days, resulting in significant cost savings for the university.
Some “essential personnel” will be required to work during the holiday period. Questions should be directed to an employee’s supervisor or Leave Administration at 352-392-5732, central-leave@ufl.edu.